Joker
As is the case in all other Batman media, The Joker was Batman's deadliest arch-enemy who was merciless, shrewd and extremely dangerous. He exasperated every wicked trick to take over Gotham City, make a profit and ruin Batman's life both emotionally and physically. The “Clown Prince of Crime” had no pity for anybody he forced to take part in his wicked schemes either by intimidation or fraud and was particularly unkind to his sidekick and love interest Harley Quinn, such as manipulating her to amuse himself. He also escaped death several times after his defeats with Batman, until his final eventual death many years later. History As an unknown crook, Jack Napier started out as a young enforcer working for the mob triad of Sal Valestra, Buzz Bronski, and Chuckie Sol. At one point early on, before his forthcoming mishap, he and Bruce Wayne caught a glimpse of each other. One of his last jobs took place in Europe on the Mediterranean Coast. His target was Carl Beaumont, a businessman who had fled the states after the mob bosses discovered he'd embezzled a fortune. Years later, he formed his own gang and staged their first robbery at the Ace Chemical Plant. It was during this heist that he first encountered Batman. It's unknown whether the man was pushed or simply fell, but he did fall off a catwalk and into a drainage vat of chemical waste that washed him out into the river. The chemicals had an adverse effect on him: they dyed his hair green, his skin was bleached white, and his lips were stretched into a everlastingly stained red grin, giving him the exterior of a clown. All this snapped the crook's already warped mind and aggressive nature, giving birth to The Joker. Declaring he would show the world the triumph of his comic genius, the career of one of history's most dangerous psychopaths began. The Joker's strategies have little bias. Although he has shown particular enjoyment in playing his jokes on the most commonplace, innocent victims, like mild-mannered salary man Charlie Collins, he is just as dangerous to Gotham's highest level officials, Commissioner Gordon or Mayor Hill. But the Joker has had his share of provocations. The Joker, along with Two-Face and The Penguin travel to Yucca Springs on an invite from Hugo Strange, who claimed to know the identity of Batman. Ex-businessman Cameron Kaiser deliberately made his newly built casino resemble the Joker's look to draw the villain out, much to the Joker’s disdain. Subject to the joke, his plans can range from small-scale to global. On one occasion, the Joker tried to con his way to a local comedy trophy by using the Mad Hatter's mind control chips on the event's judges. Another time, the Joker stole a nuclear warhead and almost successfully set it off on the residence of Mayor Hill. As a recurrent patient of Arkham Asylum, the Joker was often psycho-analyzed, at one point by Dr. Harleen Quinzel. After one session, the Joker fooled Dr. Quinzel as he painted himself as a misunderstood soul crying out for the world to accept him. Quinzel soon found herself in love with the Joker, and broke him out of Arkham. However, a combination of Joker's ego and Quinn's obssesive love and affection towards him tends to push the Joker's buttons. More often than not, the Joker abuses and throws Harley onto the streets until he decides he wants her again. Sometime later, the Joker was hunted byTthe Phantasm due to his past ties to the Valestra Mob group. He also ended up disposing of Sal Valestra after the latter unwisely demanded his help in stopping the Phantasm. He later injected Arthur Reeves with Joker Toxin, and finally confronted both Batman and the Phantasm, actually Andrea Beaumont, the daughter of the man whom he murdered a long time ago, at the World of Tomorrow. When overcome and at the mercy of Andrea while the theme park was burning to the ground, the Joker couldn't help but laugh, which ultimately made Andrea let him go after realising that he simply was not sane any longer. Abilities and Equipment Over the years, the Joker used a wide variety of gadgets to exact his comedic murders. His equipment included bladed playing cards, (of the trick and real variety), joy buzzers (which electrocuted the victim), and a wide variety of laughing gases (which incapacitated the victim with laughter). Most famously, the Joker had an Acid Flower attached to his suit. This flower emitted a wide variety of chemicals, depending on the situation and the Joker's mood. Laughing gas and acid were popular variants, but the possibilities were limited only to the Joker's mind. Regardless of the state of his seriously twisted mind, The Joker was a brilliant planner, and never appeared to run out of schemes. Often, The Joker's plans were connected to humour, though at the same time, were extremely perilous which resulted in him being dreaded wherever his schemes took him. The Joker could lie effortlessly, and was remarkably accomplished at making up heart-rending stories that were capable of deceiving people into believing that he was simply misinterpreted, or in Harley Quinn's case, essentially taking pity on him and making her determined to help him in any way possible. His stories were well-known to have no limits, varying from a cruel and forceful father, to a runaway mother. The Joker was a categorical sadist, and always seemed to take pleasure in upsetting, attacking, and even killing even the most innocent people. His utmost enjoyment, on the few occasions it came, appeared to be beating Batman, as demonstrated when Ace used her mind warping powers to weaken Batman allowing the Joker to beat him senseless. The Joker owns two pet laughing hyenas, named Bud and Lou, after Bud Abbott and Lou Costello. Background Information Although none of the identities revealed in the comics for the Red Hood/Joker ever gave him a full name (though some have given him the first name Jack and his cousin almost called him 'Cousin Ja..' before being shushed by the Joker) "Jack Napier" was used in Tim Burton's 1989 '' Batman '' and later utilized in the DCAU as well. In Dreams in Darkness, Dr. Bartholomew refers to him by that name, and in Joker's Wild, his name can be seen in a file about him. Either they or the Joker himself could have altered his file to show that he had operated under a variety of aliases. It is also possible that the Joker did indeed use a number of aliases, and that Jack Napier is simply his most commonly agreed-upon name. Appearances *''Joker's Favor'' *''Be A Clown'' *''The Last Laugh'' *''Fear of Victory'' (cameo) *''The Strange Secret of Bruce Wayne'' *''Dreams In Darkness(hallucination) *Almost Got 'Im'' *''Christmas with the Joker'' *''Joker's Wild'' *''The Laughing Fish'' *''The Man Who Killed Batman'' *''Harley and Ivy'' *''Fire from Olympus'' (no lines) *''Trial'' *''Harlequinade'' *''Riddlers Reform'' (no lines) *''Make 'Em Laugh'' Feature film * Batman: Mask of the Phantasm Category:Villains